The four teams for Brazil’s 2017 Raia Rapida (translates to “Fast Lane”) sprint meet have been confirmed: the host nation, the United States, Italy and Argentina. And for the first time, the meet will feature both men and women – two swimmers of each gender per team.

2017 CSi SOSC OPEN QUALIFYING MEET

Several high-profile Australian swimming stars took to the pool today to compete at the 2017 CSi SOSC Open Meet, also known as the Southport Twilight meet. Heavy into their training with the NSW State Championships less than a month away, Olympians Cameron McEvoy, Daniel Smith, Georgia Bohl, Taylor McKeown, and Emma McKeon were in action at the aquatic site of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

McEvoy splashed first in the men’s 50m freestyle, taking the event in a time of 22.06. That’s a solid time for ‘The Professor’, whose nearest competitor finished over a second behind. McEvoy took the treble of freestyle events at his nation’s Olympic Trials, earning berths in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle, but gave up his 200m free spot to teammate David McKeon.

The 22-year-old Bond swimmer also scored the win today in the men’s 100m freestyle, taking the event in a time of 50.13. That is a modest time for the fastest man ever in a textile suit, with that feat sitting at an incredible 47.04 from last year pre-Rio. Today, his 50.13 was just enough to edge out Olympic teammate Smith, who touched just .01 behind in 50.12.

Smith got the upper hand in the 200m freestyle event, however, as the former Miami swimmer fired off a time of 1:48.54 to McEvoy’s 1:49.26. The two represented the only sub-1:50-second swimmers of the field and their times sit in line with where the athletes have been thus far this season. McEvoy currently ranks 8th in the world with his time of 1:48.05 from the Queensland Championships in December, while Smith sits as the 10th fastest 200m freestyle swimmer worldwide with his mark of 1:48.61 from this January’s Victorian Open.

The women had strong in-season showings today, with McKeon leading the way with 3 event wins. The Olympic gold medalist checked in with wins in the 200m and 400m freestyle races, while also topping the podium in the 100m butterfly before scratching the 100m free event.

Kicking off her series of wins, McKeon rocked a 400m freestyle time of 4:13.54, an event in which she hasn’t swum since 2015. Her time today ranks as the 3rd fastest of her career, which includes a mark of 4:09.08 from 2013 as her personal best. McKeon’s outings of 2:00.10 in the 200m free and 59.95 in the 100m fly were both pedestrian swims for the Olympian, by her standards, but she was still able to top the competition by a safe margin in each to get the job done.

McKeown and Bohl dominated the women’s breaststroke events, with the pair splitting both races. McKeown took the women’s 200m distance in a time of 2:27.98 to Bohl’s 2:29.36, while Bohl earned the 100m breaststroke win. In the latter event, Bohl’s time of 1:08.72 was just under a second faster than McKeown’s 1:09.63, but all showings were indicative of their in-season training status.

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About Loretta Race

Loretta grew up outside Toledo, OH, where she swam age group and high school. Graduating from Xavier University, she stayed in the Cincinnati, OH area and currently resides just outside the city in Northern KY. Loretta got back into the sport of swimming via Masters and now competes and is …